1 Samuel 1-4

1Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

2He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

3Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD.

4And whenever the day came for Elkanah to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.

5But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb.

6Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her viciously to taunt her.

7And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.

8“Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

9So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

10In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.

11And she made a vow, saying, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.”

12As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth.

13Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk

14and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!”

15“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.

16Do not take your servant for a wicked woman, for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.”

17“Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.”

18“May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Hannah. Then she went on her way, and she began to eat, and her face was no longer downcast.

19The next morning they got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then they returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.

20So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”

21Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow,

22but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.”

23“Do what you think is best,” her husband Elkanah replied, “and stay here until you have weaned him. Only may the LORD confirm His word.” So Hannah stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

24Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.

25And when they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli.

26“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.

27I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him,

28I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

1At that time Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation.

2There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.

3Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.

4The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.

5The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away.

6The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

7The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

8He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.

9He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.

10Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

11Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest.

12Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD

13or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

14and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

15Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

16And if any man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you may take whatever you want,” the servant would reply, “No, you must give it to me right now. If you refuse, I will take it by force!”

17Thus the sin of these young men was severe in the sight of the LORD, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.

18Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.

19Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

20And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” Then they would go home.

21So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

22Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

23“Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people.

24No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the LORD’s people.

25If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death.

26And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man.

27Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house?

28And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the food offerings of the Israelites.

29Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

30Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.

31Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in it will reach old age.

32You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age.

33And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.

34And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day.

35Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.

36And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”

1And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare, and visions were scarce.

2And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.

3Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.

4Then the LORD called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”

5He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

6Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”

7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

8Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy.

9“Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

11Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle.

12On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his house, from beginning to end.

13I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them.

14Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

15Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,

16but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel.

17“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”

18So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”

19And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

20So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.

21And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.

1Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek.

2The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.

3When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.”

4So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a great shout that the ground shook.

6On hearing the noise of the shout, the Philistines asked, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” And when they realized that the ark of the LORD had entered the camp,

7the Philistines were afraid. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before.

8Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

9Take courage and be men, O Philistines! Otherwise, you will serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”

10So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.

11The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

12That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

13When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.

14Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” So the man hurried over and reported to Eli.

15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.

16“I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

17The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

18As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.

19Now Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news of the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth, for her labor pains overtook her.

20As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay any heed.

21And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed.

22“The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the ark of God has been captured.”